Cherry time

A couple of weeks ago I visited Maurina Rowley of Cherry Hill Farm south of Nampa. With cherry harvest less than a month away, Northwest growers are gearing up for a second season amid the pandemic during which consumers eating habits have turned healthier. Last week my colleague Bob Larson talked with Northwest Cherry Growers President BJ Thurlby.“We really feel that this is a critical time to tell that health story with cherries are super high in anthocyanins, which reduce inflammation, and inflammation of course helps reduce or increase your immune system.”

 

Thurlby says it’s all very exciting.

“It’s just a great time to be selling a product that is holistically healthy for consumers and I tell our growers, you know, we have a great product and no matter what we do, right or wrong, at the end of the day we still have a great product.”

 

So, those changing buying habits, Thurlby says is what they’re counting on.

“That’s one of the things that gets exciting when you talk about how’s the season going to go. Well, we just hope the consumers are there thinking, well I want to be healthy, I want my children to be healthy, and we’re going to buy cherries.”

 

Thurlby says it will all be technology and health.

“You know, those two will go hand-in-hand together, online promotions and ads, social media everywhere talking about why you want to make cherries part of your, you know, your daily food routine. And so yeah, it’s just good timing in terms of having a product that is unique to human health and try to tell that story in a positive way.”

 

Thurlby says harvest should start this month.